It’s been my tradition since
first coming to the South by Southwest Music Festival to cross Town Lake to the
South Congress neighbourhood and the Yard Dog Gallery for the Bloodshot Records
party and margaritas across the street with the Waco Brothers. It’s a tradition
that was continued this year and I don’t see it ending as long as all the involved
parties are in Austin.
I arrived at the Yard Dog at
3 p.m., where I caught Lydia Loveless’ last song. I would have liked to have
heard more, since I’m a fan, but luckily I caught her in Toronto a few months
ago.
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| Luke Winslow-King |
Lagunitas IPA was selling
for three dollars, but it was just a buck if you kept your cup for refills, so
I ordered my first beer while waiting for Luke Winslow-King to begin at 3:15
p.m. He sang and played guitar and was accompanied on vocals by Esther
Rose (who added percussion with both a rub board and by striking a horseshoe
with a screwdriver) and an upright bassist. The trio had a rootsy, folky,
down-home sound that was nice, but not particularly inspiring.
I went inside the gallery to
check out its great collection of folk art and then back outside to the
Bloodshot merchandise table where I bought both a Bloodshot work shirt and
bottle opener for just five dollars.
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| Waco Brothers |
I then went to Guero’s and
bellied up to the bar for margaritas and conversations with old friends, new
friends and all of my friends in the Waco Brothers. I was going to briefly
check out and go down the street to Jo’s Coffee to see The James Hunter Six,
but Wacos drummer Joe Camarillo had already bought me another margarita so I
stuck around and chatted more until just before 5:30 p.m. when the band left to
take the Yard Dog stage.
I don’t know if you’ll find
a more entertaining rock and roll band than the Wacos, and this set featured a
fiery set of original songs and choice covers. Jo Walston from The Meat
Purveyors jumped on stage for George Jones’ “White Lightning” and Jon Langford
reciprocated by jumping into the crowd during Johnny Cash’s “Big River,” but
the boys were generally better behaved than at past Bloodshot parties. And yet
another Friday at SXSW tradition was upheld when Craig Laskey kept drinking my
beer.
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| Green Day |
I made a pitstop back at the
condo before it was time to go to ACL Live at The Moody Theatre to see Green
Day. You can read my Spinner review of that outstanding show here.
When Green Day had finally
finished after playing for more than two hours, I dropped my laptop off at the
condo and went across the street to The Ginger Man to see The District
Attorneys. Some friends are working with the band, and they should because it’s
really good. The relatively young Athens, Ga. group features two guitars, drums,
bass and keyboards, plays melodic alternative rock, and goes down fine with a
pint of IPA. I’d be happy to be in court with these guys.
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| The Specials' Terry Hall |
The Specials were playing
again at Stubb’s at 12:30 a.m., and I got there early so I could grab a tallboy
of Lone Star and get right up front where hopefully I’d encounter more real
fans of the second wave ska kings than I did the night before. A few people spotted my Skinheads Against
Racial Prejudice T-shirt and waved me over to join them. It was a similar set
to the previous night, with perhaps a few more songs thrown in, but I was too
preoccupied with moshing and skanking to take notes. The Specials once again
left me on a high on the walk back to the condo for the usual socializing and
debriefing.
Amount of money spent on
food during SXSW thus far: $0.
